Inking mechanism for intaglio printing machines



April 10, 1956 P. HEIMLICHER INKING MECHANISM FOR INTAGLIO PRINTING MACHINES Filed Nov. 14, 1951 l 1 11 :1 Tr---/6 H/J5a. |l 1 1 I 1 1 I: 1 1 1 1 1| 1 11 1 II J 11 1 1 H 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 g /6 I I50. I 11 l H 1. J l i 1 1 I f/vvz/vrali' PAM/4 Him/4 Mi /ER United States Patent INKING MECHANISM FOR INI AGLIO PRINTING MACHINES PaulHeimlicher, Bern,.switzerland, assignor to Maschinenfabrik Winkler, Fallert &.: (20., A. G., Bern, Switzerland Application November 14, 1951, Serial No, 256,209

Claims: priority, 7 application Switzerland November 17, 1950" 7' Claims; (Cl; 101-457} the necessary adjustments of the; doctor blade; which; ad-

justments are normally frequently required during the operation of such a machine.v

Another object of the invention. is the provision; of closure-means of thecharacter indicated which are designed and arranged. in such a manner between. the upper edge; of theinhtrough and the scraping edge ofthe doctor bladeastoetiectively serve their intended purpose without participating in. the oscillating movement of the doctor blade; 7

Because. of the readily volatile nature. of. the-colour solvents used in intagfio printing, theinking: mechanisms must be sealed as completely as possible to reduce the escape of solvent vapours to aminimum. Since the diameter of the printing cylinder can; vary between wide limits depending on the format of the paper beingprinted, the members ensuring" closure of. the inking mechanism must be capable of being adapted'to'cylinders of. varying size. Thesemembers howevermust' be arranged'in such a manner' as' not tointerfere with the adjustment of the doctor to varying angles or, more especially,. with. the

necessarymanipulation ofthe doctor for-printingpurposes.

If-the printingcylinder is inked'by immersion in the ink, then it must be possible also to lower the ink trough without interference by the closure members. In the various manipulations necessary for printing, it is desirable if possible to dispense with removal and re-mounting of the closure members, which is troublesome.

The invention solves this problem by means disposed so as to close the opening between the doctor edge and the upper edge of the ink trough, said means being stationary and disposed on the one hand near the scraping edge of the doctor and on the other hand near the upper edge of the ink container, and not participating in the reciprocating movement of the doctor.

One embodiment of the invention, chosen by way of example, is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a cross section through the whole of the inking mechanism for intaglio printing;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section through the doctor adjusting mechanism;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the inking mechanism for intaglio printing;

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional detail of the inking mechanism; and

Figure 5 is an alternative form of the mechanism illustrated in Figure 4.

The inking mechanism is provided with a printing cylinder 1 against which the doctor 2 bears. The doctor is anchored between holders 3 screwed to the doctor beam 5. This beam is supported at both ends by bearing 2,741,175 Patented Apr. 1.0; 19,56

membersor attached to the shaft 7. Ononeofthebearing members 6 is disposed a. worm wheel, in whichv engages. a worm'ltl, provided with a handle 4,:such that by turningthehandle 4 and the worm it is possible: to. rock the doctor beam in such a. manner that the doctor edge bears against the. printing cylinder 1 and scrapes of? the ink on the smooth. parts of the printing: cylinder. To one end of the shaft 7 is-attached crank gear 8 for. producing a reciprocating movement of the doctor, while. at the other. end: is attached a lever 9 which is connected to the shaft 7 through-a worm 10, a worm wheel: 11, bolts-12v and lever 13. The crank gear 8 is drivcnby a eccentric, not v shown in thedraw-ing.

Under the doctor 2 is anchored a cover plate 1.4 which is bcntalong the whole of its length at a. slight distance fromthe doctor edge andpartly encloses a ledgelS. The ledge 15' is supported by a holder. 15a. The length, of ledge. 15- corresponds to the distance between the side walls 17 of thein-lc trough, which may be attachedato' the side wallslS-of themachine or may be made integral with them.. The ledge- 15-cantherefore-move only in transverse direction to its longitudinal axis along'walls I7 of the ink trough but cannot participate; there:- ciprocatin'g, movement of the doctor 2. Rather the holder 3 slides with. the guideslfi in holder 15a, which latterris securedv tolcdge 15; The ledge 15: is provided: at; its lower. edge-with a drainage edge- 19'and' is. pivotally secured. to a bifurcated rail 28:- behind this: drainage edge. A rail 21 is disposed: sons to. be-c'capable of: sliding; between the. bifurcations: of. the rail:20% and is at the. same-time pivot-all y: attached to alug 222 oi a=..carrier 23.. Irraddia tion. to the ledge15, the rails2fiand 211 andith'ez-carrier 23 and itslug 2, also, arefitted, between. thevslide: walls 1-7 ofltheink trough'in. such amanner asto be capable of sliding, along these wallsttransverse totheir longitudinal direction;

Tov projecting parts 291 of the lug.22 are attached pivots 32 carrying at least one rail 30' capableof. slidingalong the side walls 17 of the ink trough. A catch 31 prevents the rail 30 from, swinging downwards. The catch 31 howevercan' be so placed'as to allow the rail.30"'to be swung'downfbr'cleaning purposes. The projecting parts 29 and pivots 32 do not extend over the entire length of rail 30, thereby providing openings (not shown in the drawing) so that ink scraped ed by the doctor can flow between rails 20 and 39 back into the ink trough.

The alternative embodiment illustrated in Figure 5 is provided with a cover plate 33 anchored under the doctor 2 and partly enclosing a lug 34 attached to a rail 35. The rail 35 is pivotally and longitudinally displaceably supported against a carrier 36 rigid with the doctor beam 5. Furthermore, near its drainage edge 37 the rail 35 is pivotally but not longitudinally, i. e. axially, displaceably held by a rail 38 which itself is pivotally but not longitudinally displaceably attached to the lug 22. The rails 35 and 38 do not participate in the oscillating movement of the doctor 2 and are fitted so as to be capable of sliding between the side walls 17 of the ink trough.

The carrier 23 is at one end rotatably mounted on a bushing 24 and at the other end is rigidly connected to a hub 25 of the lever 9, which hub is rotatably mounted in the wall 18. The lever 9 is provided with a stud 26 which engages in notches 27 supported by the wall 18 when the lever 9 is in certain positions. When the doctor 2 is in operative position the lever 9 is always in the same position. By means of the worm 19, the bolts 12 can be moved forwards or backwards, depending on the diameter of the printing cylinder, the shaft 7 and the doctor 2 participating in this movement because of the positive connections. The angle 28, between the doctor 2 and the tangent to the circumference of the cylinder 1 at the and swinging the lever 9 rearwards.

point where the doctor is in contact with it, can be adjusted, by means of the worm 10, to the proper size as determined empirically. If the doctor has been adjusted for a certain cylinder diameter and is now to be removed, this is effected by pulling the stud 26 out of the notch 27 If it is desired to return the apparatus to the operative position, the lever 9 is swung back until it reaches the notch 27. Both the doctor and also the covering means are now back in their former position. The two rails 20 and 21., capable of sliding relatively to one another, slide towards or away from 'one another when the doctor angle 28 is being altered and when the doctor is being adjusted to a different cylinder diameter. In the alternative embodiment illustrated in Figure 5, the rail 38 swings slightly upwards or downwards. Covering on the side remote from the doctor is effected by means of a cover 39 known in itself (Figure 1).

What I claim is:

1. In an inking mechanism for intaglio printing machines having an ink trough, a printing cylinder, a reciprocable doctor blade having a scraping edge and adapted for cooperative engagement with said cylinder, and a doctor shaft supporting said doctor blade; the combina tion of a carrier element arranged for movement relative to said doctor shaft, closure means interposed between said scraping edge and the upper edge of said ink trough, said closure means being supported independently of said doctor blade and being arranged for closing off the area between said doctor blade and the upper edge of said ink trough without interfering with the reciprocation of said doctor blade along said cylinder, said closure means comprising a pair of telescopically slidable members, the lower end of one of said members being pivotally attached to said carrier element, the other of said members being bifurcated for slidably retaining said first mentioned member and being pivotally attached to said inking mechanism adjacent the scraping edge of said doctor blade.

2. An inking mechanism in accordance with claim 1, including a further carrier element rigidly secured to said doctor shaft adjacent the scraping edge of said doctor blade, said further carrier element pivotally carrying said bifurcated member.

.3. An inking mechanism in accordance with claim 2, including a cover plate secured to said doctor blade adjacent said further carrier element, said cover plate being enclosing a correspondingly shaped projecting portion of said further carrier element.

- 4. In an inking mechanism for intaglio printing machines having an ink trough, a printing cylinder, a reciprocable doctor blade having a scraping edge and adapted for cooperative engagement with said cylinder, and a doctor shaft supporting said doctor blade; the combination of a first carrier element arranged for movement relative to said doctor shaft, closure means interposed between said scraping edge and the upper edge of said ink trough, said closure means being supported on said carrier element independently of said doctor blade and being arranged for closing off the area between said doctor blade and the upper edge of said ink trough without interfering with the reciprocation of said doctor blade along said cylinder, said closure means being pivotally attached to said carrier element, and a second carrier element rigidly secured to said doctor shaft adjacent the scraping edge of said doctor blade, the upper end of said closure means being pivotally attached to said second carrier.

5. An inking mechanism in accordance with claim 4, wherein said first carrier element is disposed concentrically with respect to said doctor shaft.

6. An inking mechanism in accordance with claim 5, wherein said closure means comprises a primary'member and a secondary member pivotally attached at one end to the latter, the opposite end of said secondary member being pivotally attached to said first carrier element.

7. An inking mechanism in accordance with claim 4,

including a bolt disposed exteriorly of said trough, a lever connecting said bolt and said doctor shaft, and gear means operatively connected to said bolt for turning same and pivoting said lever and said shaft, whereby the angularity of said doctor blade may be varied.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,115,376 Weiss Apr. 26, 1938 2,141,978 Greenhill Dec. 27, 1938 2,178,069 Crafts Oct. 31, 1939 2,447,090 Pollock Aug. 17, 1948 2,495,017 Meyer Jan. 17, 1950 2,550,454 Crafts et al Apr. 24, 1951 2,655,102 Ross Oct. 13, 1953 

